Holding Back? 3 Tips to Foster More Feedback

As we close out 2014, here's one of our top blogs of all time. It serves as a great reminder to stay present and give feedback, even if it's just a quick gesture of appreciation.

Feedback. We all want it, and we rarely get enough of it.

Feedback taps into our emotional desire to be seen. We crave it.

When I feel like I am not giving or receiving enough feedback, I check in. Sometimes I am scared – about what the end result will be. However, I know if I don’t hear or say what I need to – I am missing an opportunity.

And sometimes it truly surprises me. During one of my regular one-on-one meetings with a team member, I asked for feedback. She immediately responded with, “I want more feedback.” My response, “Perfect – let’s talk about that.” We then had a conversation about what feedback meant and looked like for each of us. Sometimes it is that easy to take the first step.

Here are three tips to create more feedback around you:

You never know until you ask.Like I shared, the old adage is true here. Ask for feedback. Don’t assume that it will magically appear on your office desk or your kitchen table for that matter. It is nice when it does, but hoping is never a strategy.Ask the people most important to you for feedback – the good, the bad, the ugly. It is all a gift. It does start with you here.

Don’t judge a book by its cover.Get curious about what feedback means to people around you. Ask about people’s preferences.In meetings with team members, ask them specifically how they prefer to receive feedback. Some may want group critique – some private. Some may want verbal – some written. Make sure to listen and deliver it the way they prefer.

Affirm me, please.Positive feedback is often overlooked. Don’t hold it in. Go there.Give your team members positive feedback and make it specific. In our Fierce Feedback model, we emphasize the importance of giving concrete, specific examples of what is done well. Instead of saying “You did a great job at that meeting” – be pointed and say “The way you handled the concern about our delivery time was very thoughtful and showed you did your research. Great work.” See the difference?

There is a lot to gain when we have more feedback conversations – both personally and company-wide. In fact, research by Gallup shows that companies who implement regular employee feedback have turnover rates that are 14.9% lower than for employees who receive no feedback.

How are you going to start?

This blog was originally published October 1, 2014 by Stacey Engle, EVP of Marketing.